DRAGONMOUNT

This year's JordanCon installment - Car'a'Con - wrapped on Sunday, to the mingled delight and dismay of the attendees. Dismay, of course, because a great weekend had ended. And delight because, once again, JordanCon had fully delivered on its promise and premise, wrapping con-goers in the welcoming and non-judgmental embrace of a fully geeked-out Wheel of Time communal experience. From the informative and lively Writer's Track sessions with published authors and publishing insiders to The Last Ever WoT Theory Panel, JordanCon 2012 was a true home run. I can't do the entire con justice, but for what it's worth, here are my top reactions to my first-ever con experience.   1) I'm a WoT Slacker   I've always viewed myself as a major WoT fan, and a fairly knowledgeable one. It took one of the con's opening sessions - the Daes Dae'mar trivia game - to rid me of that illusion.   With great fanfare, the con attendees who chose to take part in the trivia contest were divided into teams and told to choose team names, ready to do battle in a WoT Trivia Agni Kai (I'm an Avatar nut too. Deal with it). In this corner, Terez and the Tamyrlin's Know it Alls. Across the room, the Defenders of the Stone - a trivia group so serious that one member was Skyping in. One group called itself the Aelfinn, and had Maria sitting in with them. Another group was the Eelfinn. Corruption. And us - the dramatically named No Costume Is a Costume. (The name would make more sense if you read the fine print on the JordanCon program guides.)   I knew we were in trouble from the start - our team of five included two girlfriends who had never read any of the books - but I didn't quite realize how much trouble until the questions started rolling in. What is the Old Tongue name Moghedien used for Shaidar Haran? (Mia'cova). What is Gaidal Cain's weapon (I still say "Birgitte" is a better answer than "two swords"). Who was Rogosh Eagle-Eye's love? (Dunsinin). Even Terez' team got some of the questions wrong. No Costume? We were just glad to end the game with positive points.   So, uh, no, we didn't win. And I realized I know only slightly more WoT trivia than my hasn't-read-the-books girlfriend. So, congratulations, JordanCon - you just got me to do a reread in advance of A Memory of Light. Something to be proud of.   2) Meeting Online Friends in Person is Awesome...If They Recognize You   One of the primary attractions to JordanCon, for me, was the chance to finally meet, in the flesh, some people I've spent the past decade virtually hanging out with. Jason Denzel. The Liangs. Dwyn. Shendare. And there were surprises. I mean, I knew Jason was tall, but nobody mentioned that he was actually part stork. Jennifer not recognizing me immediately...or on slow prompting. (Come on, Jenn...how many guys with yarmulkes were you expecting? To be fair, Jenn is to "short" what Jason is to "tall", so she couldn't really see it, but still...I cried a little, on the inside). Dwyn was much more petite than I expected. You build up a picture of people in your head, and the force of their personalities makes you think of them as larger than life. Dwyn was barely life sized.   Seriously, though, meeting old friends, and making new ones, is what a con like this is really about, in my opinion, and JordanCon was uniquely well set up to make that happen. Daes Dae'mar, the Ji'e'toh competition, the Saturday night party, the open-gaming room, and the panels all provided real opportunities to interact with other WoT fans, and I had a blast doing it.   3) JordanCon Hates teh Jews; or Why is the Awesome Scheduled for Saturday?!?   OK, OK, I get it. Saturday is the weekend day, the day off, the day with the most attendees, and the day without either opening or closing ceremonies taking up time. But man, if knowing the con organizers can't get them to schedule Harriet McDougal's reading of the AMoL prologue for "not Saturday", what good is it, really?   So, yeah. Sadly, I had to miss the reading - which I heard was terrific - and most of the Saturday night party. I did manage to show up for the last hour of dancing Saturday night, and that was fun, if a bit embarassing. (In a room full of mediocre to bad dancers, shot through with occasional awesomeness, I was by far the most awkward dancer on the floor. The last time I'd actually danced to, well, dance music was in high school, more years ago than I care to think about...and I wasn't particularly good back then. I'm uncoordinated, arrhythmic, and apparently - according to my girlfriend, who laughed at me but still loves me, unaccountably - I make weird faces when I dance. Top that!) Any dance party that has the DJ screaming "I am the Lord of Chaos" at random times works for me. Plus, I got introduced to an awesome but decidedly NSFW love song to Ray Bradbury. Yes, that Ray Bradbury. Google it, if you're of age. Win all around.   4) The Writer's Track Had Some Serious Info for Aspiring Authors   Not going to be funny here at all (Yes, Barm, Luckers, I hear you. I wasn't funny anywhere else in this post. Got it. Be less predictable, dammit!) - the Writer's Track panels at JordanCon were extremely useful. Industry vets at every level, from Hugo and Campbell award winner Mary Robinette Kowal to behind the scenes folks like Peter Ahlstrom (Brandon Sanderson's assistant) to up-and-coming and successful self-published author Will Kenyon, shared valuable knowledge and insight about the writing and publishing process.   5) JordanCon's Blademasters Are Awesome, and I Am Not   Interesting side note: In college, I choreographed sword fights for stage and actually spent a little time in a fencing club. More relevant side note: That was way too long ago to make a difference when I decided to take part in the con's swordfighting tournament.   Armed with practice swords gifted by Robert Jordan himself, con attendees were paired up in mini brackets of four, with the winners of each bout facing off in a second round, and the winner of that second bout getting to challenge one of three Blademasters. Watching the random bouts was fun, in an "opening rounds of American Idol" kind of way - occasionally, someone who knew what they were doing would be involved, by pure luck, but most of the time it was completely untrained folks whacking each other with sticks. Awesome.   Watching the Blademaster bouts was awesome in a whole different way. Those guys really know what they are doing, and it was much like watching any other elite athlete - just stand back and appreciate it.   As for me, it didn't help that I got matched up with Stork Denzel himself. I didn't land a blow.   6) The Exhibitor Floor Rocked   There is some truly amazing art being done out there, in the fantasy realm in general and the WoT arena in particular, and despite not having the funds available to bring any of it home with me, it was a privilege to walk the room and see some of those beautiful works - a number of which were replicated on Ta'veren Tees. And meeting the son of the late Darrell K. Sweet, hearing him talk about his father's work, and examining the full size paintings from which the book covers were made was definitely memorable.   7) The Wrap Up   Bottom line - I drove from New York to Atlanta for this con, and it more than met my expectations. I'm looking forward to going again next year. In fact, I'm going to start working on my dance moves and fencing now.

Dragonmount is proud to present the opening section to the prologue to A Memory of Light, the fourteenth and final Wheel of Time novel. Go here to read the opening portion of the prologue. Originally presented by Harriet McDougal at JordanCon 2012 this past weekend, this opening section of the prologue is available for free on our website. You can also find a copy of it on Tor.com. The full prologue will be released this year, before the publication of the full novel. The book itself will be released on January 8, 2013. For more information about this final book, visit our AMOL info page. Discuss A Memory of Light on our forums. Please consider pre-ordering the full book through one of our international Amazon affiliates, and help support our website.     

Can you give me an M? And an O? And an I-R-A-I-N-E. Woot! So, as you might guess, Moiraine was the ultimate winner of this year's Suvudu cage match series. It was quite an exciting final match, if I must say so myself. Moiraine was faced with a worthy opponent. Her opponent was Kylar Stern from the Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks.   The Night Angel Trilogy follows the story of a young street-orphan by the name of Azoth/Kylar. Kylar becomes entangled in the schemes of the Sa'kage, the ruling entity of the city's criminal underworld. In an attempt to escape, he apprentices himself to the legendary wetboy Durzo Blint. Now, through his attempts to become a killer aided by magic, Kylar's fate goes along a previously unexplored lane, with the destiny of the world hanging in the balance.   When I heard that I needed to review this book, my initial reaction was: "Yay! Amazing series!" and I fully stand by that opinion. This was one of those series where you couldn't put it down and the pages virtually kept turning themselves. None of the individual books seemed drawn out or lacking, as one often finds in fanasty series; each was as gripping as the one before.   Weeks created extremely three dimensional and real characters. You find yourself captivated by their stories, being carried away in their experiences, and having your emotions influenced by their well-being.   All in all, Moiraine definitely had a worthy opponent, and the Night Angel Trilogy books are definitely worth reading!

Ta'veren Tees has partnered with artist Ariel Burgess to bring you the first ever officially licensed Wheel of Time playing cards.  No release date for the cards has been set yet, but they are coming soon, and we will be here to let you know as soon as they are available.  In the meantime, check out their press release:     I had the opportunity to meet Ariel Burgess at JordanCon this past weekend, as well as to view preview pictures for some of the cards.  She is an incredibly sweet, talented woman, and I am confident that you will be blown away by the art on the cards.

Check out Darrell K. Sweet's unfinished cover art for A Memory of Light.         Most fans are aware of Darrell K. Sweet's artwork, which graces the covers of the original U.S. edition Wheel of Time books. Regardless of what you think of the art itself, Mr. Sweet's imagery has become a recognized style deeply associated with the series.   Unfortunately, Mr. Sweet passed away before completing the book cover for A Memory of Light, the final book in the series. But this weekend at JordanCon 2012, we've been given the opportunity to see his first draft of the painting.   Click here or on the image to the right to see the full version.   In my personal opinion, I think this painting had the potential to be one of the finest in the series. Try and see past the obvious mistakes or omissions. The three women (presumably Elayne, Min, and Aviendha) would need some articulation to distinguish themselves from each other, and the "yin yang" isn't accurate. But those are the kinds of adjustments that Darrell would have made. It's been part of the process since the series began. While the details aren't accurate to the book, per se, this painting invokes some powerful emotions for me. I think we can all guess whose body that is at the top of the funeral bier!   With Mr. Sweet's passing, the final book cover will be painted by renowned artist Michael Whelan. Mr. Whelan is hard at work on the painting at this time. He will not be painting the same scene as Mr. Sweet. Be sure to follow our news, Twitter, or Facebook pages to see when that cover is revealed.   So, what do you think of this unfinished cover? Critical comments are welcome, but please keep things respectful at all times. A Memory of Light will be released in hardcover and audiobook on January 8, 2013. Read the full details here.

Last week, I featured some serious (and seriously amazing) group portraits and sketch dumps. This week, I thought I'd lighten the mood. In accordance with this week's theme (All Together Now, Take Two), here are four group portraits that made me do a double take.     1. Wheel of Time Chars by Sir-Heartsalot Not only is the style flawless and fun, but the interpretations are hilarious (just keep scrollin' -->).     2. WoT Puppet Theatre No. 1 by shorelle What's cuter than the Wheel of Time characters as hand puppets? I feel a meme coming on ...     3. Sparkles by RoseMuse I've read Stephanie Meyers' Twilight series and don't have anything against it (we all need a little romantic fluff now and then), but I still think RoseMuse's crossover of Wheel of Time, Twilight, Sabriel, Pride and Prejudice, and Lord of the Rings is pretty darn funny.     4. Re-Employment by Zorm Another crossover! Maybe that should have been this week's theme ... That poor Myrddraal just wanted a role in My Little Pony.

This week, I've had the pleasure of interviewing another one of the administrators here on Dragonmount. I think he has something to do with the Wheel of Time forums, but hey, we'll all know soon enough! He's one of those who will make you fear for your fingers if he has an opposing opinion from yours in a discussion, since he's that passionate about it all. Without much further ado, I give to you: Luckers!   Q: Who are you and what do you do on Dragonmount?   A: Well, I'm the Wheel of Time Administrator, so my main task is basically seeing that the Wheel of Time boards are all running smoothly. I usually have my fingers in most things Wheel of Time related that run through the website--I wrote most of the book summaries (and the .pdf we released to bring everyone back up to date for the Towers of Midnight release), and had a hand in developing the Tower Guard program for the signing tour for Towers of Midnight. I worked heavily on the update for the Wheel of Time FAQ when we took it over from Leigh Butler. I've also run interviews with most of the major players in Team Jordan, and I was able to do an official showing of Jason Denzel's amazing Towers of Midnight trailer at WorldCon on behalf of the website last year, which was pretty damn awesome.   But yeah, essentially, if it has the Wheel of Time stamp on it, I've had some part of it (even if occasionally it's just Jason and Jenn Liang giving me a heads up that something is coming when the secrecy goes beyond my paygrade.)     Q: How did you get involved on Dragonmount?   A: Umm. I just got picked up as a staff member on Debates and Discussions. Dunno why they decided to make me an offer (I was very young at the time). Then when I lost some of my interest in Debates and Discussions, I quit and offered to take on WoT modding. From there, one day I just decided to develop my own FAQ, and emailed Jenn and Jason saying that I was going to, and they were fine with it. Much the same with the Big Unnoticed Thing Theory Compilation. Somewhere in all this, Jason must have been impressed because then they made the offer for Wheel of Time Admin.   But yeah, it's mostly just a matter of putting yourself out there. If you have ideas, say them.     Q: When and why did you join Dragonmount?   A: I had just turned fourteen, so it would have been late 2002, early 2003. As I recall, it was the Dragonmount Prologue movie that Jason was developing at the time that attracted me here. I stayed for all the cool, insane people.     Q: What got you to read The Wheel of Time?   A: I was given The Eye of the World and A Game of Thrones for my twelfth birthday (I'd just gotten into fantasy through the Belgariad, which is a great gateway fantasy series for the young). I started A Game of Thrones first and found it too confronting (and to be fair to my Mum she had told the clerk at the bookstore to suggest books for her twelve-year-old, so it was all on him). Anyway, I started EotW, and was hooked by the Manetheren story. I've never looked back.     Q: Who is your favorite character?   A: Look, Brandon will roll his eyes at me if he reads this, but Cadsuane. I mean, she gets a bad rep, but when push comes to shove she has always had Rand's back.     Q: If you could be in the skin of one character for a day, who would it be?   A: Moridin.     Q: How do you earn your crust in Real Life?   A: I'm a writer, though I don't really get much money from that. My day job is at a photolab--and yes, we do see dodgy photos.     Q: Married? Kids?   A: Well, I'm gay, so it's currently illegal where I am to be married. One day, if decency prevails.     Q: Do you think Brandon Sanderson has done the series justice so far?   A: Yes and no. I think he has done a very good job with some things, and a not so good job with other things. I've been very open with him about both sides, and in response, he has been quite open about some of what he perceives to be his successes and failures. A lot, I suspect, will depend on A Memory of Light, but for now...yes and no.     Q: How do you feel about the last book finally coming out?   A: I've no idea. It changes from day to day. "Bittersweet" would probably be the closest word I can think of for how I feel...     Q: Favorite nation? And why?   A: The Aiel. Uncompromising honor guided by keen wisdom--they are the most decent people in the series.     Q: If you could choose between going to Randland and any other fantasy world, which would you choose and why?   A: Randland, easy. In part, this is why I love the Wheel of Time so much, because its world is so immersive, so vast, that you literally feel like you could step into it. Besides, with my knowledge of the Wheel, I reckon I could make a decent attempt at conquering the world. *evil grin*     Q: Bow, spear, axe, or sword?   A: I actually fenced for about seven years, so definitely the sword.     Q: Your Wheel of Time crush?   A: Mat. I'd love to take him clubbing in the modern world.     Q: Anything else you'd like to add?   A: Long live Cadsuane? *wink*

It's time for more wallpaper! Remember, during the weeks between Brandon Sanderson's "musings" on each Wheel of Time book, Tor.com will post eBook art wallpaper for each of the books. Sanderson has been a little behind on his musings, but the wallpapers are still coming out on schedule.   This week, the featured eBook wallpaper is for Lord of Chaos. The artwork is by Gregory Manchess. Here is the image:         Go here to download different sizes of the wallpaper and to read more about how this art was created. How do you like the art this week?

It's almost time for JordanCon! I can barely contain my excitement. Since I will be at the convention, you won't be seeing a roundup from me next week. If any of you are going, don't be shy about saying hi when you see me.   For those of you who weren't aware yet, we have fantastic news to report: Moiraine has won Suvudu's 2012 Cage Match! She had a formidable opponent in Kylar Stern, but the votes of her loyal fans helped secure her victory. You can see the write-up and fight results here.   Speaking of characters we love, if you can't stop talking about Mat, we have just the thread for you in our Structured Wheel of Time Discussion forum. This forum is one that has rules for posting, so be sure to read them first.   The Aiel Social Group's current monthly discussion theme is cover art. What is some of your favorite cover art? Do you think that the cover art greatly influences whether you buy a book?   The Black Tower Social Group has created an impressive new scavenger hunt called The Search for the Holy Angreal. The game hasn't started yet, so head to the thread I linked if you want to sign up. It looks like it will be lots of fun.   April in the Kin Social Group is all about spring! They have contests, exchanges, discussions, and games for you to enjoy. Use this thread as a guide to the month's festivities.   Wait a second...it looks like the Highest of the Red Ajah and an Asha'man are going on a date! Is this madness? No, it's our role players with another unexpected story called Meh...It's Not REALLY a Date. Check it out to see what unfolds.   See you at JordanCon!

With 2,641 named characters, 13 volumes, 11,308 pages, 44 million copies sold worldwide, and audiobooks that would take 17 days, 11 hours, and 30 minutes to listen to back-to-back from beginning to end (and counting!) [source], the Wheel of Time sets a standard for immersive high fantasy that's hard to beat. In honor of Robert Jordan's prodigious mind and prolific pen, this week's theme is quality in quantity.       1. Wheel of Time Sketch Cards by Adam Masterman (Mahasiddha):   I love this artist's sharp, clean style. I also think the juxtaposition of the first two cards is pretty funny (It's pre-Towers of Midnight "Crazy Rand" and post-Towers of Midnight "Enlightened Rand!").       2. Wheel of Time Character Design 2 by Chase Conley (saintchase):   Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to Dabel Brothers Productions' comic book rendition of The Eye of the World in 2009. Chase Conley is one of the amazing artists behind these comics. Here's a sketch dump he did in preparation for his seven-issue run. I recommend checking out the original post to see the characters full-size.       3. Wheel of Time by Niklas Tarpila (Nether83):   This ambitious work was done for fun by a Finnish graphic artist. The characters aren't exactly how I picture them, but I really admire his coloring skill. I can't imagine how long it took to make this.       4. Teeny-Tiny WoT People by Forbis:   Forbis is one of my all-time favorite Wheel of Time fan artists. Her depictions of the Two Rivers folk early on in the series strike a nostalgic cord with me, both because they were just so darn young and innocent back then and because Forbis hasn't been active in the Wheel of Time art community for years.   Here's a sketch dump she did of Rand (the first three rows) and the Aiel (most of the last two rows). Again, you might want to follow the link to see this full-size--and check out the rest of her gallery while you're at it!